How we got here: Anna's account
This is the story of Kris's hip.
*Pause while you double check that you are on the right blog*
We will get to the tits part of the tale in a moment, but we first must talk about the hip... and circus... and Kris's love for circus... And Kris's love to do things with her hips in circus. Okay I'm getting carried away, but you get the idea.
Kris had been experiencing some on-going hip pain since December of 2021, which was not getting better despite us all hoping that it would just kind of ... Go away? In retrospect, we are all very happy that her circus-induced hip pain persisted (sorry Kris), because it led her to make an appointment with her doctor to find out what the F was going on. After the appointment, I received a text that read:
"went to dr for my hip. ended up with colonoscopy home kit and mammogram. whee Tuesday." (I know you all read that in her voice)
Kris and I have the tendency to go rogue in our conversations, so I'll just sum up for you that all was thought to be routine, boobs were squished under lbs of pressure that could rival a crocodile bite, and mammograms were definitely not created by women.
A few days later, Kris gets a call that a follow up was needed due to an "architectural distortion" found. It felt premature to worry, and we were optimistic that all was fine. A lab tech probably just smudged the screen accidentally with their thumb (at least that's what was in my mind, but I don't even know if thumbs make contact with screens mid-mammogram). Once again, we are all very pleased that this distortion was found as they are so often missed in cancer diagnosis, and this particular distortion ended up needing further inspection via biopsy.
Now, one thing that I have always admired about Kris is her ability to manuever through less than ideal situations with an impressive balance of realism, logic, emotion and wit. While the need for a biopsy was not a diagnosis, it still was a little unnerving. Despite the disappointment of once again not being relieved of the possibility of cancer, Kris and her science nerd self (love you Kris!) found something to be excited about in the upcoming biopsy: getting implanted with a titanium tag the size of a grain of rice AKA getting a full blown bionic boob. While it would not be the type she could shoot lasers with, it WAS the type she would be able to tell TSA agents about for years to come should the result come back negative. At this point, in our minds, it obviously would.. wouldn't it?
By this time, you all know, the results instead came back positive, and brought us to this moment, this blog, this journey ahead for Kris. I know that in everyone reading this, she has an incredible team of humans surrounding her to be a support system as strong as the titanium boob tag that will have to be removed upon surgery, but much larger than a grain of rice. We love her more than words can say, and while Kris will have to do the bulk of the hard work, I know that we are all here to help her fight this however we can.
Kris and Stephen will attend her first official meeting with her care team on Monday, April 18th. From there, the treatment plan will be determined, and more updates will come shortly after.
Thank you to all who are following along in the journey here on the blog, to Kris for trusting me with such a precious task, and most of all to Kris's hip for being injured so that she can get to stomping Cancer's ass sooner, rather than later.